program fees

a good friend of mine lives in va and is looking into wls surgeons. the one she has found has a 1600 program fee. i was dumbfounded. has anyone else heard of such high fees? thanks jennifer

The surgeon I chose, Dr. Harrington in Silver Spring, has no program fee. I think this is because he works through two different hospital programs (Washington Adventist and Holy Cross), and it's the hospitals that administer the programs and run the support groups. I went through Washington Adventist, which has monthly support group meetings and offers access to the hospital's bariatric nutritionist for a reasonable cost ($30 for a half-hour appointment). Other surgeons who do charge a program fee may be running their own post-op support groups and/or have nutritionists on staff. The first surgeon I looked at, who is located in northern VA, charges a $2000 program fee (whi*****ludes both the support group and unlimited access to the nutritionist).

I had my surgery in Fairfax with Dr. Chebli and he has no program fees. He is wonderful and so was Fair Oaks Hospital. Maybe she should check him out or some other doctors. I wouldn't pay a program fee. Melissa

Dr. Afram has a $1200 fee and 300 for the Psyc Eval.

I had my surgery in Va, with Dr. Halmi in Woodbridge. I paid nothing but the nutritionist fees. Dr. Halmi is great. Potomac Hospital is where mine was done. cheryl Hain